5 a side football

How to organise a 5 a side football tournament

Dare to Zlatan and raise some money by having a 5-a-side football competition.

Before your event

There are a few things to think about before your event.

Location

You can’t play without a pitch, so first have a think about your location.

Get in touch with your local sports club; they should have an Astroturf pitch. This will be the best option, because Astroturf pitches are usually smaller, designed specifically for 5-a-side games.

If there’s not an Astroturf pitch near you, then hopefully there’s local football pitch. You won’t want to use the full length of the pitch, because that will involve an awful lot of running. Consider getting some cones to half the pitch and make goals on either side, rather than at the ends.

School or university grounds often have football pitches, where you can do the same thing as above with cones to make an appropriate size of pitch.

Failing all of these, there’s always the local park.

Publicity

Make sure you post on social media, so everyone in your personal network knows what you’ve got planned. This will be the quickest way to get people involved.

Get in touch with your local press, whether that’s the radio or newspaper.The Fundraising Manager in your area could even provide a quotation.

Put posters up on town notice boards, with contact details and instructions for how people or already established teams can sign up.

If there are no community notice boards in your area, then you should find that there are often notice boards in supermarkets.

Teams

You’ll need to organise teams. How many teams are you going to have? Ask your friends, family, and work colleagues. There may also be people who respond to your posters on notices boards, including full teams. Assign positions beforehand based on who’s good at what.

Schedule

Who’s playing who? You’ll need to set up schedules. Team A plays team B. Team C plays team D. Then the two winners play each other. If there are more teams, have a knock-out.

Sponsorship

Determine how you’ll gather sponsorship. Setting up a JustGiving page is probably the best way of managing your sponsorship. You can mention your page across all the forms of publicity you’re using. Set up a sponsorship form, which people can get on the day, or ask for in advance.

Materials

Make badges to help promote the event. You’ll need to produce some leaflets, so consider who might be able to print them for you, and what they’ll be made from. Make sure to link to the cause of your charitable activities. It might be a good idea to have team kits. (Link to Online shop for t-shirts)

During your event

Now have a think about what you’ll need to do during your event:

Take pictures of the event.

Consider refreshments – people, especially the athletes, are going to get thirsty.

Set up a place for people to put in donations.

Consider an event at half time to keep the audience engaged.

Find an opportunity to speak publically about why you’re fundraising for the BHF.

If it’s a big event, consider having a smaller event like an outdoor BBQ or a raffle draw running alongside it.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time if you want. Read our new privacy and cookies policy.

Work for us

Your BHF

Our policies

Follow us

British Heart Foundation is a registered Charity No. 225971. Registered as a Company limited by guarantee in England & Wales No. 699547. Registered office at Greater London House, 180 Hampstead Road, London NW1 7AW. Registered as a Charity in Scotland No. SC039426